London pre-open: Economists warn on political uncertainty, euro at 2010 lows

The FTSE 100 Index is expected to start the New Year with slight gains, rising from Monday’s closing level of 6,576.74, with most of its European peers seen advancing by between one and six tenths of a percentage point.

The Financial Times’s (FT) Friday edition led with a story regarding economists’ worries regarding the possibility of an inconclusive result at this year’s May election.

It reported the chairman of Britain's Airports Commission and former CBI boss, Sir Howard Davies, as saying “a messy coalition could be negative. Major projects would be thrown into uncertainty, and there would be market doubts about the government’s ability to take needed tough decisions."

Acting as a backdrop, the single currency was seen trading at 1.2045 on Friday morning, its weakest since 2010 after losing about half a percentage point on the day.

That came as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi told German financial newspaper Handelsblatt that interest rates will remain low for some time.

Overnight the ‘official’ Chinese manufacturing sector purchasing managers’ index retreated to the 50.1 point mark, from 50.3 in the month before (consensus: 50).

Quindell to sell assets to raise cash

In a bid to boost its working capital, Quindell, which has attracted attention due to share-dealings by its directors, entered into exclusivity arrangements with a third party on 31 December 2014 in respect of the possible disposal of an operating division of the group.

The Egyptian government has made a payment of the equivalent of $350m to BG Group as part of an agreement to repay debts. The FTSE 100 gas producer said it was working with Cairo to recover the $920m still owed as well as looking to increase its activity in the country.

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has a new chief executive after former boss Patrick Kennedy stepped down. Paddy Power said Andy McCue, formerly managing director of the group's retail UK & Ireland business, had taken up the role on Friday. Kennedy announced his intention to step down as chief executive at the company's annual meeting in May last year.